Either the medical and science fields will have found a cure or a vaccine to prevent HIV, or we will still be losing friends and family to the disease. If the former is the case, it will have relevance from an historical standpoint, like La Bohème. Most of us don't deal with tuberculosis or even have heard of consumption. However, we would be able to connect to the loss. If we are still losing the battle, then it will have the same impact that it had today. The impact is less now though than it was in 1996. The youth coming up now are not as fearful of getting infected as we were back in the late 80's and early 90's. Sadly many people think that it is something that if they get infected with, that they can manage it long term.
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."